
The present invention relates to a still photographic camera of the kind specified in claim 1, preamble and a method according to the preamble of claim 24, as well.
A camera of the kind mentioned is known by the DE-PS-34 33 412. The drawback of same is that a ground-glass plate is foreseen as view finder and thus as first imaging device in the image plane and a recording medium in form of a film is brought into position of the ground-glass plate in order to finally take a picture of the scene.
The present invention makes to its object to provide a still photographic camera at which simultaneously pictures can be taken and the picture taken can be viewed, at which no mechanical displacements at all must be made in order to go from the viewing mode into the picture taking mode, which, furthermore can be structured extremely compact and allows options which can be realized without a disturbing of the compact structure, which thus can be completed with regard to realized operational functions extremely flexible.
For this object the inventive camera is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 1.
Because a transducer arrangement of optoelectrical transducer elements is foreseen in the imaging plane, the possibility is arrived at the inventive still photographic camera to realize practically all functions necessary for taking pictures by a processing of the electrical output signals of the transducer.
Because the lens according to claim 2 is supported to pivot about two axes perpendicular to each other an optimization of the focus becomes possible without changing the perspective of the image set by means of the position of the transducer arrangement.
Following the wording of claim 3 and 5, resp., the perspective of the image in the position of the image plane is i.e. set initially. It is, thereby, however by all means possible to fix the transducer arrangement onto the casing and to select the perspective of the image by a shifting of the camera.
Furthermore, according to claim 4, for setting the focus the lens and/or the transducer arrangement is/are displaceable in the direction of the focus.
According to the wording of claim 6 preferably motor driven positioning means are foreseen in order to set the mentioned movements of the transducer and/or the lens. Thereby the possibility is provided as still is to be explained, to set by judging of the focus by means of a camera computer and regress onto the positioning members, the focus of the imaging focus automatically in the sense of an automatic controlling of the focus and to optimize it, resp., via the imaging plane.
At the presently preferred embodiment the transducer arrangement is formed in accordance with claim 7 by CCD-transducer elements.
An extremely preferred embodiment of the camera in accordance with the invention characterizes itself further in accordance with the wording of claim 8.
By the provision of a further transducer arrangement of optoelectronic transducer elements, tied to the casing of the camera, a viewer image is produced electronically which allows with the storing of the image to simultaneously view the stored image.
With the same transducer arrangement, furthermore the information needed for the intercommunication between the camera computer and the operator is preferably displayed, in accordance with the wording of claim 15.
Because the camera in accordance with the invention is structured in a further, extremely preferred embodiment in accordance with the wording of claim 9, the possibility is given at select a window of the scene electronically from the scene to be photographed and to subject same to a respective specific further processing. It is thereby possible, following the wording of claim 10, to realize an electronic zoomfunction in that the image window selected at the window selecting unit can be switched with a preset scale of increase or decrease onto the further transducer arrangement of optoelectronic transducer elements.
By this electronic zoom function an exchanging or adjusting of the objective will become superfluous in many cases.
A further preferred embodiment of the camera in accordance with the invention according to claim 12 leads to the possibility of an automatic adjusting of the focus and optimization and/or a automatic setting of the illumination and/or an automatic setting of the color composition of the light of the image, resp. Obviously, in place of or additionally to the controlling operation of an adjusting member merely a display can be made and the desired adjusting be accomplished manually.
Furthermore, in order not only to be able taking the information relative to a single image window selected at the window selecting unit, but to conduct an optimizing over an entire image, it is proposed to design the camera according to the invention in accordance with the wording of claim 13. By this it becomes possible to save the corresponding data for several, sequentially or simultaneously selected windows and to set from the entirety of these informations and data, resp. optimal setting parameters for focus and/or illumination and/or color composition of image light or to adjust these manually.
At a further preferred embodiment of the camera the actual image data memory is integrated in the casing of the camera, for instance in form of a mini-disc.
By the provision of a gravity sensor an automatic recognizing of the position of the camera will be made possible, e.g. parallelity of edges of an image relative to the vertical direction.
In accordance with the invention the method is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 24.
The determined ACTUAL image size can thereby be for instance the averaged focus over the entire image, the distribution of the focus over the entire image or the focus at individual sections of the image, etc. The ACTUAL-focus of the image as ACTUAL-image value can preferably be determined directly from the output signals of the optoelectric transducers. The ACTUAL-image value can, however, understood in a more general way, be also the modulation-transmittal function given by a foreseen camera lens or a phase-transmittal function or, combined, the complex optical transmittal function and will be then indirectly determined based on the knowledge of this modulation-transmittal function of the lens by a lens identification at the camera.
By intervening into the optical path of the camera, i.e. for instance by changing of the focusing and/or by a signal-technical intervention onto the electrical path at the output side of the transducer arrangement at the camera, the image defined by the electrical signals is changed, such that at least a RATED image value is arrived at, for instance a given focus or focus distribution or a desired dependency of the modulation-transmittal function of a invariable value which is independent from same, such as for instance the aperture value or image angle or, generally, for increasing or decreasing of the modulation-transmittal function, possibly differing for different areas of the image.
Generally, the xe2x80x9celectronic imagexe2x80x9d represented by electrical signals of the transducer elements can be changed or optimized, resp., by techniques known in the field of communication techniques. The corresponding processing proceeds obviously digitally.
Preferred embodiments of the method in accordance with the invention are specified in the claims 25 to 33.